Service With a Sword

When Joel Wood ate at Cafe Atlantico's new minibar recently, there was something even weirder than dishes like grilled watermelon cubes the chef is famous for. It was the serving-ware the food came on.

One plate sat on a spring the size of a fruit cake. Mr. Wood's mozzarella soup was squeezed into a medicine dropper. And then there was the bill. It arrived in an empty eggshell the waiter smashed as he set it on the table. "I...